"...agreement requires hospital pay $1 million to two agencies that provide medical services & beds to homeless people recovering from hospital stays"

Well, we'll see if this'll stop the more egregious cases of dumping but believe it when I tell you that our own hospitals here in Nashville send folks packing all the time who could certainly use some time recovering in their units before being discharged back onto the streets. It's always about the money, but it's definitely pennywise and pound foolish, since many of these folks often end up returning to the hospital's ER in order to obtain followup and/or re-injury care that could have and should have been provided at a clinic or in some form of respite unit. Double kudos to Vanderbilt's social workers who try like hell to get recuperative care for their homeless clients, but there's just no place to discharge them to that can offer much beyond bare bones respite care. The Guest House works wonders with what they have and are allowed to do, but there's no real advanced care there to speak of. This is not to say that the folks working there aren't capable and if things go well for the downtown clinic this will change soon, but at the moment, their hands are tied by a lack of space and money. Advocates know this is a huge problem in Nashville and it has been addressed more than a couple of times at the now bimonthly homelessness commission meetings, but so far, nothing more than talk has occurred.... LA hospital settles lawsuits for allegedly dumping homeless patient

Associated Press - May 31, 2008 10:33 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles hospital is settling two lawsuits that accused it of leaving a homeless paraplegic man on Skid Row without his wheelchair.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and a patient transportation company have agreed to pay what attorneys call "not an insignificant amount of money" to Gabino Olvera. His lawyer says Olvera was seen dragging himself across the pavement in a soiled gown more than a year ago.

A city attorney says the hospital has also agreed to adopt protocols for discharging homeless patients, train their staff and keep statistics.

The agreement requires the hospital to pay $1 million to two agencies that provide medical services and beds to homeless people recovering from hospital stays. And it will pay the city $10,000 in civil penalties and $50,000 to reimburse investigative expenses

Police probe alleged L.A. homeless dumping

Hospital van reportedly spotted dropping off paraplegic man on Skid Row

Los Angeles Police Department / via Reuters

Johnny Williams, on stretcher, is taken from an ambulance to a homeless shelter in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 22, 2006. Police said Williams was one of five patients from the L.A. Metropolitan Medical Center who were photographed and videotaped by police being dropped off on skid row against their will.

updated 3:06 p.m. CT, Fri., Feb. 9, 2007

LOS ANGELES - A hospital van dropped off a paraplegic man on Skid Row, allegedly leaving him crawling in the street with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag, police said.

Witnesses who said they saw the incident Thursday wrote down a phone number on the van and took down its license-plate number, which helped detectives connect the vehicle to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site.

Police said the incident was a case of “homeless dumping” and were questioning officials from the hospital.

“I can’t think of anything colder than that,” said Detective Russ Long. “There was no mission around, no services. It’s the worst area of Skid Row.”

The case comes three months after the L.A. city attorney’s office filed its first indictment for homeless dumping against Kaiser Permanente for an incident earlier last year. In the earlier case, a 63-year-old patient from the hospital’s Bellflower medical center was videotaped wandering the streets of Skid Row in a hospital gown and socks.

Dan Springer, a spokesman for Hollywood Presbyterian, did not confirm or deny that the van carrying the homeless man came from his medical center but said an internal investigation was under way.

“We have, as do all hospitals, vans that transport patients. It’s a contracted service. We are ... looking into all the facts,” he said Friday.

“These are very serious allegations. Our goal is to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. If we determine a mistake of this magnitude was made, we will respond swiftly and appropriately,” Springer said.

He did not know if hospital officials had been questioned by police, but added, “this hospital will cooperate with all and any officials.”

City officials have accused more than a dozen hospitals of dumping patients and criminals on Skid Row. Hospital officials have denied the allegations, but some said they had taken homeless patients to Skid Row service providers.

In 2005, Hollywood Presbyterian was accused of homeless dumping. At the time, a top executive denied the charge, but said Skid Row service providers offered treatment and care for some patients who had nowhere else to go.